FossilDudeCO Posted June 7, 2017 Share Posted June 7, 2017 On June 3rd and 4th I ditched my regular hunting grounds for the opportunity to meet up with a forum member @Seve78 at one of the Pay to Dig quarries in Kemmerer, Wyoming. Tom chose to spend Saturday at Warfield Quarry and Sunday with me at American Fossil (AKA Fish Dig) which is run by our very own TFF member @sseth Tom was an absolute pleasure to dig with and he filled his suitcase with literally tons of treasures to take home, I would meet up again in a heartbeat! I arrived at 9:30am on Saturday and spent about 4 hours helping to prep the site for Tom on Sunday. I split down some of the larger blocks that had been pulled from the wall to allow them to dry. For those of you that have not been to Kemmerer for fish yet, the rock has to be AS DRY AS POSSIBLE, or else it is just a mushy mess that WILL NOT split! Dry rocks are near impossible to achieve with just 1 day of digging! Upon Tom's arrival at around 8:00am of Sunday we got to work! Here is Tom starting his search through some of the rock that had been pulled! Here is a picture of the area I was working. I brought my long chisels and a couple of short ones for good measure. Along with 3 hammers and nippers for trimming down my finds. Both halves of a nice multi plate presented themselves for me about 3 hours in! Once all the rock had been pulled it was time to trim them up for transport. Trusty old table saw, the fastest way in the west to lose a finger! My haul after just 6 hours of total digging time was pretty impressive. All trimmed up and laid out on the table ready to go home, these finds were all delivered to the Morrison Museum of Natural History in Morrison, CO. I wanted them to have some fish for their collections and left everything as found so they could try their hands at prep! The big fish on the front of the table is a 90% complete Phareodus. This is a relatively small one, they could reach up to about 25 inches in length! I left this one with Patrick to give to Seth, maybe he can make something of it! My find of the day though was also my smallest...a Juvenile Amphiplaga brachyptera... This is the RAREST fish the Pay to Dig quarries will let you keep, and only my second one ever found in 4 years of digging Green River fishies. They do not present in the 18" layer I usually dig, only the split fish layers. I found a full grown adult measuring in at just over 5 inches and now this juvenile to add to my collection. I don't usually post much for FOTM, but this guy is headed that way! Whether he wins or not though, he has made me one happy digger! If anyone else is down for a meet-up shoot me a PM! I will be heading back to Seth's quarry on June 24-25 and always love to meet fellow TFF members! Hope you all enjoyed my trip report, see you soon! -Blake As I was leaving the quarry, we had some furry guests waiting in line for their turn to dig up some fishies! 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted June 7, 2017 Share Posted June 7, 2017 Sounds like a wonderful way to spend a couple of days! Thanks for sharing! Congratulations on the juvenile fishy. Darwin said: " Man sprang from monkeys." Will Rogers said: " Some of them didn't spring far enough." My Fossil collection - My Mineral collection My favorite thread on TFF. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troodon Posted June 7, 2017 Share Posted June 7, 2017 Nice trip report thanks for posting. Looks like a blast that everyone would enjoy. Nothing like a few days fishing.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJB Posted June 7, 2017 Share Posted June 7, 2017 Even though ive done this a hundred times, its still nice to see more fish. Nice of you to donate those Blake. RB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monica Posted June 7, 2017 Share Posted June 7, 2017 Amazing fish, Blake!!! Hopefully I'll make it out there one day... Thanks for sharing! Monica Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aerogrower Posted June 7, 2017 Share Posted June 7, 2017 Sweet finds Blake!! Cant wait to meet you out there someday... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SailingAlongToo Posted June 8, 2017 Share Posted June 8, 2017 5 hours ago, aerogrower said: Sweet finds Blake!! Cant wait to meet you out there someday... Ray, Mrs. SA2 & I could pick you up on the way! Don't know much about history Don't know much biology Don't know much about science books......... Sam Cooke - (What A) Wonderful World Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plantguy Posted June 8, 2017 Share Posted June 8, 2017 Thanks for sharing the photos! Regards, Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sseth Posted June 9, 2017 Share Posted June 9, 2017 Blake Glad you had a great time. Can wait to catch up on the 24th. Seth _____________________________________ Seth www.fossilshack.com www.americanfossil.com www.fishdig.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossil-Hound Posted July 14, 2017 Share Posted July 14, 2017 @aerogrower @sseth @FossilDudeCO @SailingAlongToo I'm passing through this fish Mecca today on my way to my new home in Utah only three hours from the GRF. We should all meet up sometime around Aug-Sep. Really excited about this. Going to try to make it to Black Cat Mtn. Sometime in Oct-Nov-Dec so if anyone is up for a road trip let me know. :-) Question: is the VIP dig worth the money? Do or do not. There is no try. - Yoda Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilDudeCO Posted July 14, 2017 Author Share Posted July 14, 2017 @Fossil-Hound My August is a bit hairy, and September is the Denver show (9-18) Best bet for a meet up is probably September 23 for me. I would love to meet up and dig some fish! I could do Black Cat anytime in October! That would be a FUN trip! PM incoming about the VIP dig. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossil-Hound Posted July 14, 2017 Share Posted July 14, 2017 30 minutes ago, FossilDudeCO said: @Fossil-Hound My August is a bit hairy, and September is the Denver show (9-18) Best bet for a meet up is probably September 23 for me. I would love to meet up and dig some fish! I could do Black Cat anytime in October! That would be a FUN trip! PM incoming about the VIP dig. Do you have any October dates that would work? I'm free whenever but weekends are better. September might work. Do or do not. There is no try. - Yoda Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilDudeCO Posted July 14, 2017 Author Share Posted July 14, 2017 6 hours ago, Fossil-Hound said: Do you have any October dates that would work? I'm free whenever but weekends are better. September might work. The quarries in Green River are only open Memorial Day - Labour Day so October won't work. October for Black Cat Mountain. pretty much pick one! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sseth Posted July 17, 2017 Share Posted July 17, 2017 Depending on weather we might could make our quarry work but October is sketchy as far as weather. _____________________________________ Seth www.fossilshack.com www.americanfossil.com www.fishdig.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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